Tears in the Darkness
by muzical
Summary: Sirius' pov during Krista's kidnapping. When Sirius realises she's missing, he races to find her before it's too late. Companion piece to 'Krista'


**AN: Written by request for Lady Drama. This is Sirius' POV during Krista's kidnapping in _Krista_ chapter 28. If you haven't read _Krista_ you might want to before reading this Oneshot.**

**Sorry I haven't updated _Krista_ in a while. I'm struggling to get the next chapter right. Hope this is enough to keep you occupied until that chapter is ready!**

**

* * *

**

**Tears in the Darkness**

After glancing at the clock, it was quarter til three; I picked up the phone and dialled the number for her office. What a crazy muggle invention, the telephone. Sure, it was nice if you needed a quick word with someone and they didn't have a fireplace, but it was so impersonal.

It rang three times before I heard her voice on the other end, sounding tired and weary._'Hello, Krista Thomas speaking,' _

'Hey love,' I said, smiling into the phone.

'_I'm glad I answered the phone.'_

'Were you not planning on it?' I asked, trying to sound hurt. She must be having a rough day.

'_Not after the day I've had.'_

A sneaky smile crossed my face and I knew if she saw it, she would have slapped me.'Aw, I'll have to give you a massage when you get home.' She'd get a massage, amongst other things.

'_That sounds like a great idea. I should be home in about thirty minutes. I'm leaving in five.'_ .

'Good. See you when you get here. Love you.'

'_I love you too.'_

I hung up the receiver and settled down in the living room to wait. Thirty minutes wasn't a long time, I could wait. I had a great idea for James' birthday at the end of the month and I knew Krista would love it. We hadn't thrown him a party since Hogwarts and this would be the best yet.

Three-thirty came and went, and I moved to the kitchen, staring out the front window at the driveway. What could be taking so long? She could have hit traffic, or been held up working on her story.

'Where the bloody hell are you?' I asked the air, pacing the kitchen floor. It was nearly five and Kris was due home at 3:30. She'd never been this late before. Thirty minutes to an hour sure, but never an hour and a half.

I picked up the phone, but quickly put it down. What if she stopped at the store? We hadn't planned anything for dinner. I'd give her another half hour before I worried. Thirty minutes wasn't much.

I watched the clock tick the seconds and when the thirty minutes were up, I pulled mywand from my pants. Something was wrong. Without another moment's pause, I apparated to James and Lily's house.

Stopping only to open the door, I burst into the living room, looking frantically around the room. 'Prongs! Lily!'

'Calm down Sirius, you'll wake Harry,' Lily said softly, walking down the stairs. 'I just got him down for a nap.'

'Krista's missing,' I said quickly. 'She was supposed to be home two hours ago. Where's James?'

I looked up as James appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. If I wasn't so worried about Krista, I would have made a joke about his masculinity. 'I'm right here. What's going on?'

'Krista was supposed to be home over two hours ago. It's not like her to be this late,' I paused before adding the next thought. 'I'm worried.'

'Have you called her office? Maybe she's just stuck there, working late,' Lily tried to reason.

I shot her a quick glare. There was no way. 'She would have called.'

'How about I call her office and we'll see if they've seen her. What's the number?'

I stared at her blankly, the number? 'Uh. I have no idea. It's on the wall…' I trailed off, shrugging my shoulders. I didn't have the number memorised, I'm lucky I knew how to dial the bloody thing.

Lily disappeared into the kitchen while I stayed frozen in the living room. 'I'm sure she's fine,' James said, sitting in an old, faded armchair. 'She's around. We'll find her.'

I strained to hear Lily's voice in the kitchen. Where could Krista be? Didn't she know how much worry she was causing me? 'Hi, I'm looking for my friend, Krista Thomas. Is she still there by chance? No? When did she leave? Okay, thank you.' Leaning against the doorframe, Lily shook her head. 'The receptionist said she left just before three.'

'I need to go there. Now.' Standing up quickly, I headed towards the door.

'Padfoot…' James started, and I turned back. 'Let me get my coat.'

Together, we apparated to the newspaper office and searched the parking lot. I found her car, parked in her favourite spot halfway to the door. 'She never left,' I said softly. The doors were locked and there was no sign of her anywhere around.

I checked her tires, the doors and even knelt down to check under the car. That's when I found it. 'Prongs,' I called, holding up the black leather bag. 'Her purse.'

He jogged across the parking lot, stopping next to me. 'We need to tell Dumbledore.'

Nodding, I collected the items strewn under the car, stuffing them back into the purse. 'What am I going to tell her mum?'

'We'll figure that out when the time comes. Right now, let's just take it one-step at a time. Let's go back to my house. We'll tell Lily what we found and then go to Dumbledore.' James put his hand on my back, patting twice. 'Don't worry, mate, we'll find her.'

I don't remember much of what happened next, I was too filled with concern. Who would want to hurt her? She hadn't done a thing to anyone. It had to be my fault; my fault for getting her involved in this mess. If I had never met her, never gotten involved with her, she would be fine. This was the second time she'd been in danger because of me.

'I sent a letter to Dumbledore,' James said, walking into the living room where I was sitting. 'With any luck, he should be here soon.'

Still holding her purse in my hands, I looked up at my best mate. 'I can't just sit here. I need to find her.'

'Padfoot, there's nothing you can do right now.' Lily's soft voice forced me to turn away. 'Let's just wait and see what Dumbledore says. We'll find her.'

'Someone took her because of me. What else could it be? This can't be a random kidnapping, not with her purse left behind. Damnit! If I had only just picked her up…' I punched the couch cushion in anger.

'Here,' she said, picking Harry up from the floor. 'Hold your Godson.' She dropped him in my lap and disappeared, pulling James with her.

I stared down at Harry, jiggling him in my arms. 'We need to find her,' I said softly to him. 'You know I want to marry her? I know, silly right? We've only been together for a few months now, but I already know I want to spend my life with her.'

'Sirius?' I looked up, meeting the bright blue eyes of my former headmaster. 'I am very sorry to hear about Krista. Please, tell me exactly what happened.' He sat across from me in one of the armchairs, touching his fingertips together in a pyramid shape.

It took a moment for my mind to acknowledge the question. 'I… I spoke to her just before three, and she said she was leaving in ten minutes. It's about a twenty-minute drive from her work to the flat. When five-thirty rolled around and she wasn't home yet, I started to worry. I came here, not sure what to do…' I trailed off, looking up at Lily for help.

'I called her office and they said she left at three. James and Sirius went to her office, checking on her car and they found with her purse underneath.' Lily sat next to me, her hand resting on my knee.

Rather than respond, I rocked Harry back and forth on my lap, keeping myself occupied with him. 'What makes you believe this is magic related?'

'She was attacked a few months ago by two Death Eaters. They said they would find her again. It's the only thing that makes sense. There's no sign of a struggle, only her abandoned purse.' A muggle would have taken her purse, not left it behind. Only a wizard would leave that evidence behind, knowing the muggle authorities would never find her.

Dumbledore leaned forward in his chair, 'I assume you three would like to be in charge of this investigation? Along with Remus and Peter, of course.'

'Yes, sir,' James said with a quick glance at me. 'We've got the time.'

'Keep me informed.' Our former Headmaster stood and Lily walked him to the door.

'Where should we start?' Lily said when she returned a few minutes later.

I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what to do. For the first time in quite a while, I was at a loss. 'Let's check her friends and co-workers first. The first time she was attacked, it was done by someone who knew her.' James and Lily began planning while I sat there, Harry still in my lap.

'I need to call her Mum,' I said after a minute. 'She's going to worry if Krista doesn't call her soon.'

Lily nodded, crossing the room and taking Harry from me. 'We'll get in touch with Moony and Wormtail.' She hugged me tightly with her free arm. 'We'll talk to you soon.'

They gave me a pitiful look as I pulled out my wand and apparated away. I didn't need their pity, I just needed Krista.

Her mother's telephone number was taped to the wall, directly above the phone. With shaking fingers, I slowly dialled the number, messing up twice before finally getting it correct. _'Thomas residence,'_ she said cheerily into the phone.

'Mrs Thomas? This is Sirius, Krista's boyfriend.'

'_Oh goodness! How are you? How's Krista doing? What could possibly cause you to call?'_

'There's been… Krista's…' I trailed off, unable to form the words. 'Mrs Thomas, Krista's been kidnapped. She was due home at three thirty and she's still not here. I've been to her office, her car's still there and I found her purse underneath. I've already alerted the Bobbies, but there's nothing they can do for twenty-four hours.'

'_Oh my word. Alan!'_ I heard her shriek into the phone and soon, Mr Thomas was on the line. I repeated what I just told her mother, only he didn't react quite the same. _'You're an investigator. What are you going to do about this?'_

I was shocked he remembered what we had told him my occupation was. 'I'm looking for her, sir. I just wanted to keep you both informed.'

'_Let us know what you find out.'_ He hung up the phone and I stared at it, stunned to silence.

'Where are you?' I asked the silent room. 'Where the hell did you go?'

*~*~*

Three days crawled by and we still had no new leads. I was working around the clock with Remus and James, trying to find her. Her parents called several times a day, checking on the status of the investigation. They never requested to speak to the Bobbies, which was good, seeing as how we never alerted the local authorities.

We searched through her list of friends, checking out everyone we knew she associated with. She didn't have that many, so it didn't take as long as we had anticipated. Her co-workers were next and we split the list, each taking a small group. I finished the first few on my list before returning to our flat for a shower and change of clothes.

I had been crashing at everyone's flat but my own. I couldn't sleep in our bed, knowing she was missing. I tried the first night, but I kept reaching over to her side, hoping to find her there. I wound up on the couch with an old quilt of second night I spent on James and Lily's couch and the third at Remus'. Who knew where I'd end up tonight?

'We think we found her,' James said as the front door opened and he stepped inside. 'That guy she works with has also been missing for three days, Michael Kenly. We've checked out his home and it looks like he hasn't been there in days. According to Remus, he has a cabin just outside of town. We're going to check it out now. And Padfoot, he was a Slytherin.'

My mind processed that information before nodding.'I'm coming with you,' I said, standing up. I tossed the book I had been staring at onto the end table and followed him out the door.

We apparated back to James' house, meeting up with Remus outside. 'Where's Wormtail?' I asked, looking around the living room. It wasn't like him to be missing from something like this.

'Don't know. He didn't meet up with us after our search.' James walked over to Lily. 'We'll be back soon.' He kissed Harry's forehead and then Lily's lips. I turned away, suddenly sickened by their public display of affection. The bastards better not have hurt her… 'You ready to go, Padfoot?'

I nodded, 'I've been ready.'

'The cabin is just outside of the city lines,' Remus said, pointing to a map of London. 'I think we should split up, someone around the back and someone in front. That way, there's no escape.'

'Sounds good, Moony. Are we ready?' I could tell James was watching me, waiting for a response, but I couldn't do much more than nod. 'Padfoot, you don't have to go. We can take care of this.'

'No,' I said, shaking my head and meeting his eyes. 'I need to go.'

'Fair enough. Let's go.' He pulled out his wand and with a crack, had disappeared. Remus followed behind and I pulled mine from my back pocket.

'Be careful,' Lily said, holding Harry close to her chest.

I struggled to smile my cocky smile. 'We're always careful.'

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the coordinates of this cabin and soon vanished with another loud crack. When my eyes opened, I was standing in a field looking up at an old log cabin. 'This is it, mate.'

'I'll go around the back,' Remus said as he left our small group, heading around the cabin to the back.

'Well, now or never.' I walked forward, wand held high, ready to cast whatever spell I needed. My heart pounded in my chest as we secured the perimeter and walked up the front steps.

I peered in the window, securing my hands around my eyes to block out the bright sunlight. It was a warm day for the middle of March and the sun bore down on me, sending beads of sweat running down my face. I gave the all clear signal and James checked the doorknob, pushing it open. It creaked and we froze for a moment, waiting for sounds of life. When nothing came, we crept inside, wands still ready.

The house was damp and musty smelling. All the furniture was draped with sheets and inches of dust covered every open space. We met up with Remus in the kitchen and continued to search the main floor. It wasn't very large, just two bedrooms, kitchen, living room and bathroom and I was about to give up hope when James discovered a door.

It opened to a descending staircase. James went down first and I followed closely behind. It was dark and we didn't dare light our wands for fear of alerting whomever to our presence. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light and when we reached the bottom, we discovered yet another door.

With a quick nod to James,I burst through the door, wand raised. Looking around, I found him, that evil bastard. He turned towards me, mouth open as if to start a spell.'Expelliarmus,' I yelled andhis wand flew from his hand. I caught it midair, sticking it in the back pocket of my jeans.'Incarcerous.' Ropes soared out of the end of my wand and wrapped around his arms, tying him tight. He fell to the ground and James rushed forward, holding him as he struggled.

Scanning the room quickly, I froze. She was tied to a chair, her head hung down and my heart dropped in my chest. He hadn't… he couldn't have… I would kill him…'Krista,' I whispered, taking a step towards her. All the sounds of James' scuffling with the bastard vanished as I stared at her. I couldn't move, my heart filled with anger and fear.

One green eye opened, and then another and I heaved a sigh of relief. 'Oh thank Merlin you're alive.' I practically ran across the room, kneeling next to her and quickly untyingthe ropes. Her wrists were covered in dried blood and rubbed raw. 'Oh Kris,' I whispered as I dropped the ropes to the ground. Carefully, I pulled her from the chair and sat her in my lap, holding her tight. I would kill the bastard for what he did to her.

'Sirius!'

She winced as I hugged her, running my hands through her matted hair. He hurt her, badly. Her eye was swollen and bruises covered her arms. Her clothing was torn, revealing more bruises underneath. It took all I had not to jump up and kill him.

'Sirius, mate, we need to get out of here. She needs to get to the hospital and we need to get him to the Ministry.' I heard James' voice, but I couldn't move. I needed to hold her, to comfort her. Only his hand on my shoulder pulled me from my worry.

I looked down at her, fresh tears glistening on her cheeks.'I'm going to carry you out of here. You're safe now, I promise. I've got you.' As carefully as I could, I stood up, still holding her tightly to my chest.

'He… he killed her… he tried to kill me… He erased Christopher's memory…'

'Shh, don't talk. I'm going to cover your eyes, it's really bright outside.' My heart ached as I gently dropped a tee shirt over her face, trying to block out as much light as I could.'I love you,' I whispered, my lips brushing against her cheek. 'Don't worry, I've got you now, you're safe.'

I followed James and Remus out. I carried Krista while they dragged the Death Eater through the door. She was mumbling again, something about Michael and Liz. 'Shh,James and Remus are taking care of him, he won't bother you anymore. I'm going to bring you to the hospital so hold tight. Don't worry, I have you and I'm not letting go.'

Closing my eyes, I stood for a moment. _Pull yourself together,_ I thought, taking in a deep breath. _Get her to the hospital_. Pulling her tight to my chest, I somehow managed to reach around and pull my wand from my back pocket of my jeans. Concentrating on St Mungos, I apparated both of us to the hospital.

The sky was overcast, a few raindrops landing on my head. Forcing a smile, I pulled the tee shirt off her face and smiled down at her, pressing my lips gently to her forehead.I stepped up to the window, still holding her tightly.'Sirius Black and guest.'

As I stepped through the window, she fainted.I carried her into the hospital and to the welcome desk. 'Help me,' I said, standing in front of the Welcome Witch.

She glanced down at Krista before looking back up at me. 'What seems to be the problem Mr…?'

'Black. Sirius Black. This is official Auror business and she needs medical attention.' It was a struggle to maintain my temper. Why weren't they rushing around trying to help her?

The woman's face paled for a moment before turning quickly to the Healer behind the desk. 'Get this woman to a room.'

They took her from me and I followed closely behind, standing just inside the doorway of her room. The Healers examined her, checking over the bruises and broken bones. 'Auror Black, we have some questions. Will you please come with us?'

'I'm sorry,' I said, not taking my eyes off Krista. 'I'm not leaving this room. If you have questions, ask them.'

She was just unconscious; she'd wake up soon. Keeping her safe was the only thing keeping me from going to Azkaban and ripping that bastard's heart out. 'Ah, yes. Could you please tell us her name and birthday?'

'Krista Marie Thomas, born December 8, 1960.' I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms over my chest. Removing my eyes from her, I looked up at the Healers now questioning me.

'And what happened to bring her here? We only ask so that we can treat her effectively.' The younger Healer looked nervous, perhaps worried.

I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts. 'She was kidnapped by a Death Eater, taken to a cabin in the middle of nowhere and tortured for three days.'

'Oh dear,' the elder Healer said, glancing over her shoulder at Krista's lifeless form. 'If you would like to visit the Tea Room, we'll know more in an hour than we do now.'

'I think I'll stay right here, if you don't mind.'

'Yes, sir. Does she have a next of kin to contact in case of emergency? A husband or mother?'

'You can consider me her emergency contact. Her family is all muggle with no ties to the magical world. She's my fiancée,' I added, telling a small white lie. Otherwise, they might not allow me to stay with her, even if I am an Auror.

'Yes, sir. We'll let you know what's going on as soon as we know.' The two Healers left and I stayed against the wall. While I had been talking, they set to work, repairing her broken nose and arm, then wrapping it in a sling. They cleared the blood from her face and hands and now she looked like she was merely sleeping. Sleeping, but with more bruises than she probably had in her entire life.

Now that I was alone with her, I was nervous. I didn't like hospitals, having spent enough time in them as a patient. Picking up a chair from across the room, I placed it next to her bed and sat down. I reached out and took her good hand in mine, gently rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb. 'Now I know what you felt like when I was in the hospital. Do you know how much you scared me? I've been looking for you for days now; I don't even know how we found you. James and Remus tracked Michael to a cabin outside of town and there you were.

'I wanted to rip him apart with my bare hands. If we had been ten seconds later, you wouldn't be here right now and I'd be locked up for murdering him.' I squeezed her hand lightly before bringing it to my lips. 'We'll go on a vacation away from here, as soon as I can get time off. We'll go away.'

'Auror Black,' a soft voice said from behind me and I turned, lowering Krista's hand to the bed. 'May we talk to you in the hall, please?'

'I'll be right back,' I said to Krista's sleeping form. Standing up, I followed the two Healers into the hallway, turning so that I could still see her bed. 'What do you need to talk to me about?'

'Well, we want to minimize her involvement with a wizard hospital as much as possible, so we're going to leave her remaining broken bones broke, along with whatever bruises she may have. Is this acceptable?'

I nodded. It made the most sense, especially if there were other Death Eaters watching her office. 'Thank you,' I said, turning and walking back into the room.

'What am I going to do with you?' I asked her sleeping form as I sat down in my chair. I would sit here until she woke up, talking to her and telling her how much I loved her, just like she said she did for me when I was here.


End file.
